How hard was it to come up with a band name and how does the name fit the music?
– First of all a great thanks to you and to all readers.
Our band name is a wordplay and it is composed by two word: Mind (thought) and Head (anatomic part), as a (musical) creature, the two-headed god Janus Bifrons, that expresses herself through the rationality of the matter and the irrational power of the madness, underlined by capital letters M.A.D.. This creature looks “AheaD” to satisfy new expressive needs, exploring new frontiers and mixing together a lot of musical influences. We would like always to represent in our music a rational and mathematical side mixed together with an atmospheric and emotional feeling, reality is never monochromatic. We think that our music should express all these aspects, in the past through the notes of “Reflections”, tomorrow in a different way, but always true to herself.

What was it that made you want to be in a band in the first place?
-I think that when you really like music, when you search for in the deepest to understand what the music and an artist try to communicate, quando the notes create a scar inside you, is very natural to try to express yourself through the music. MindAheaD aren’t interest to play cover or other’s music…we want to tell you our vision of reality and our feeling through notes and words

As I am no musician I have no idea how it works, but how do you make your own music based on what influences you? What parts do you pick?
-Music is a flow, is the real way for us all to express ourselves. I think that first of all you have to receive input from the world (not just from music but also from literature, art, bad and good things that happens every day, politics, sex, colors, nature…everything). When you have embraced all inside you, then will be very natural to express it through your own music. From a strictly musical point of view we love a lot of bands and genre, from prog of seventies to jazz, from death metal to classical music and we’d like to mix all these fragments together, in order to be free to express a specific feeling or atmosphere.

When you are in a band does it feel like you are a part of a worldwide movement?
-I don’t think so…we’ll be very lucky if we’ll be a part of a smaller movement made with of all the people that are in communion with our musical point of view, and share opinion and feelings with them. I think that is a great thing to feel part of small communities and not of a worldwide movement, because in this way we can maintain our identity, but at the same time we have to communicate and shared our culture worldwide…this is the real worth of the music influences: we’re not under a same flag but we can enrich ourselves sharing culture, knowledge and experiences.

How important is it that you look the part in promo shots and stuff? How important is the graphic side of the band?
-We all in the band think that music must be the most important part of our musical experience, but we all know that in this moment graphic side is important…we just hope that this balancing won’t be reversed. Honestly, we’re very bored to find out bands packaged all in the same manner…and this make our band not the typical blockbuster band…ahahah

What would you say influences your lyrics? How important are they?
-Lyrics have been very important to tell the story of “character 6119” so far. “Reflections” is indeed a concept album about a dystopian future due to a war that has devastated the planet and tells the story of “character 6119”, slave of “The Machine” that cast memories in his brain until he recognize no more fiction from the reality, his real memories from induced existence.
This is our vision of the times we live in, our warning that expresses concern about the direction taken by humanity.
Next album surely will go on with this tale and it will show other “reflections” of “character 6119”. We would like to tell our vision of reality and our thoughts about it through a story, almost a sci-fi tale.

Is the album as relevant today as it was in the 70s and 80s? Is digital killing the album?
-No, unfortunately is not the same…but all the world is not the same. MindAheaD trust in album, because is the only way to express the complexity of our story and looking back, when I listen music is very uncommon to listen just one song and not the entire album. But now people are very fast devourers of everything and they don’t like complicated stuff…the world of “man-dreamer” is finished years ago.

Where will the future of format end – digital verses physical verses whatever?
-We don’t really know. CD is definitely dead this year…we think that the digital way is obviously the most common and easier way to listen music. We just hope that the sound will keep an high level of quality (no more music listened through cell phone, PC, bad speakers) and that people would listen music with great attention and passion, living the magical atmosphere that it gives you.

How much of a touring entity are you guys? What is a live experience with you like?
-From our point of view live experience is the best way to create energy between an artist and the fans. We’re sure that is the better way for us to reach our fans: live is the moment when all we have done comes alive and reach the ears and the minds of who is listen to you. We would like to take on stage not just the music but also live scene (lights, characters, images and videos, even a little bit of theater). For a musician the live performance must be the better stuff to do!

What lies in the future?
-We’re working on new album and we’ve a lot of new material, but unfortunately we’re oblige to delay the release due to another change into line-up. Now MindAheaD have a new great singer and we have to rearrange new and old songs with him. New stuff is more melodic and technical at the same time…but now is far too early to speak about it. So follow us and support us.
Stay MAD